The state Department of Ecology and Cowlitz County recently issued their final EIS, reaffirming that coal dust moved through the terminal is not an issue, but calls for Millennium to mitigate for any of the coal moved through their terminal that is burned or used anywhere in the world …

JOHN STUHLMILLER … “As the coal goes out of the Millennium facility and goes to some place in the world, China or could be anywhere else, doesn’t really matter, but anywhere else, and when it’s burned, what does it do for CO2 emissions. So, carbon dioxide or any other global warming-type gases, as they’re termed, you’ve to mitigate for that. And that’s the part that troubles most because that’s a standard that how can a business be expected to address that and so that’s what’s really troubling. Millennium has still got a stiff upper lip and they’re saying we’re gonna work through this, but that’s a pretty high hurdle.”

JOHN STUHLMILLER … “Our bottom line has always been, look, for whatever a permit requirement is or from a regulatory standpoint, make it predictable, reasonable, so that a business can proceed. And make it compatible with neighboring states and so on so we can compete in that global, truly global, economic environment. And this clearly hinders that ability.”

Stuhlmiller says Washington is the most trade-dependent state in the nation, but we continue to create barriers to success.